A thick blanket of fog enveloped most parts of the region including Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Phagwara, Hisar, Narnaul, Ambala and Karnal as it reduced visibility considerably, throwing life out of gear.

Railway traffic was hit at Chandigarh railway station with several trains running late because of fog.

Among other trains, Shatabdi (New Delhi-Kalka) was running late by nearly an hour, Himalayan Queen was delayed by 1.15 hours and Lucknow-Chandigarh Superfast was late by over 3 hours, official sources said in Chandigarh.

Meanwhile, UT Chandigarh was the coldest place in the region as it recorded a minimum of 6.4 degrees C, down by one degree below normal.

In Punjab, the minimum temperature rose by five notches above normal to settle at 9.2 degrees C in Amritsar. Ludhiana and Patiala had a low of 9 degrees C and 10.4 degrees C, up by three notches above normal, respectively.

Among other areas in neighbouring state Haryana, Ambala had a low of 9.6 degrees C, up by 3 degrees, while Hisar had a minimum of 12 degrees C rising by five degrees.